18: Sharing a Bed

Ling Yunfan was already feeling uneasy, but as soon as Ji Canghai reached out and touched him, a wave of dizziness and shortness of breath hit him, causing him to lean forward unsteadily.

The memories of what happened afterward became blurred when Ling Yunfan looked back on it years later. 

He vaguely remembered a teacher rushing over and pulling Ji Canghai off him. Ji Canghai broke down in tears, sobbing, “Why am I also an alpha, why?”

But Ling Yunfan couldn’t remember what happened after that.

When he woke up, he was already in a hospital filled with the smell of disinfectant.

His mother told him that a classmate who had differentiated into an omega forgot to take their suppressant and went into heat at school. Ling Yunfan was affected by the pheromones and his pheromone balance was disrupted, so he needed to rest for a while.

But Ling Yunfan didn’t believe that, because his body had already started to heat up before he smelled anything.

However, none of that mattered now.

Ling Yunfan asked about Ji Canghai, but his mother said she didn’t know. Perhaps, as an alpha, Ji Canghai was also affected by the pheromones and that’s why he suddenly lost control.

While Ling Yunfan was resting at home, his teacher and classmates came to visit him, but Ji Canghai did not.

At first, Ling Yunfan was very angry, but later he felt lost.

He secretly decided that as long as Ji Canghai explained why he had said those hurtful words, they could reconcile.

But Ji Canghai not only didn’t come to see him but also suddenly dropped out of school.

Ling Yunfan was sad for a long time, feeling like two pieces of driftwood that had broken apart in the vast sea and could no longer be connected.

It wasn’t until a year later that they met again in high school.

 The night was dark, the clock ticking, and Lingyun Fan sat on the sofa, holding the hot water poured by Ji Canghai in his hands, and his legs covered with the blanket brought by Ji Canghai. He listened to him talk about their first meeting until the day they tested their second gender trait. He felt a little nostalgic like flipping through old photos.

Ji Canghai’s voice became gentle like a murmuring stream, slowly flowing into Ling Yunfan’s ears, making him unable to help but hold his breath and listen quietly.

Although Ling Yunfan remembered everything that had happened, he listened very carefully.

What surprised Ling Yunfan was that according to Ji Canghai, he used to be bright like the sun and popular, like a star among his peers.

If Ling Yunfan hadn’t pretended to have amnesia, he would have wanted to say with mixed feelings, “Being overly praised is not desirable!”

Finally, Ji Canghai reached the moment of their conflict, which happened on the day when the secondary gender was announced publicly.

This was what Ling Yunfan had been waiting for.

He really wanted to know how Ji Canghai had viewed the situation at the time, and why he had gone silent and dropped out of school afterward.

But when Ji Canghai talked about this, he suddenly fell silent and his eyes deep into thought.

Ling Yunfan was anxious and couldn’t help but ask, “When you saw ‘alpha’ written on your diagnosis report, then what?”

Ji Canghai looked up at Ling Yunfan, suddenly smiled gently, and replied, “Due to my childhood experiences, I wanted to become an omega, so when I saw the diagnosis report, my emotions collapsed, and I yelled at you a few times. But… I immediately regretted it, and apologized to you in tears, asking you if it wouldn’t affect your decision to stay with me even if I was an alpha. Remember?”

As he spoke, Ji Canghai raised the alcohol glass in his hand to his lips and took a sip. Due to being held in a warm palm for a long time, the ice in the glass had already melted, and the slight bitter taste of room-temperature whiskey immediately filled his mouth. Ji Canghai continued, “Fortunately, you didn’t get angry with me. You told me that even if I were an alpha, you would always be with me.”

Ling Yunfan was stunned.

This was completely different from the truth.

Ling Yunfan hesitated and asked, “What? Did we… reconcile?”

“Yes,” Ji Canghai nodded confidently, “We got reconciled, just like before. We’ll go to school and go home together as usual.”

Ling Yunfan was full of confusion and discomfort, lowering his head to stroke his own forehead lightly.

Ji Canghai placed his alcohol glass on the coffee table and stood up, saying to Ling Yunfan, “It’s getting late, you should rest.”

Ling Yunfan turned to look at the clock on the living room wall, “Isn’t it only half past ten?”

Before, at this time, he had just started his night shift at the bar.

Ji Canghai said, “The doctor said you need to rest.”

“Well then.” Ling Yunfan folded the blanket on him, “Where do I sleep?”

Ji Canghai smiled, “In the master bedroom.”

“What? But if I sleep in the master bedroom, where will you sleep?” Ling Yunfan asked.

Ji Canghai did not answer, but bent his eyes and looked at Ling Yunfan, making Ling Yunfan feel uneasy and have a bad premonition.

Sure enough, Ji Canghai grinned and his smile was somewhat sly, “Of course, we’ll share the same bed.”

Ling Yunfan, “…”

Ling Yunfan was stunned for two seconds, and then he shook the blanket he had just folded and slowly lay down on the sofa.

He forced a dry laugh, “I suddenly feel that this sofa is quite comfortable, maybe I’ll sleep here tonight.”

It was really absurd like his aunt’s mother practicing erhu with piano scores.

He had never slept with anyone before, what if he had a bad sleeping position and grinded his teeth or sleepwalked? What if he accidentally revealed his fake amnesia while half asleep?

No, he couldn’t sleep with Ji Canghai, there were too many uncontrollable and unknown things!

Ji Canghai looked at Ling Yunfan’s silly expression and his smile became even wider. He sat down next to Ling Yunfan slowly, “Do you really think this sofa is comfortable?”

Ling Yunfan, “Yes, yes, yes.”

Ji Canghai, “We picked out this sofa together. On the night it arrived, we were sitting on it together… ” He paused with a meaningful smile.

Ling Yunfan, “…”

What did we do on this sofa? Play cards? Watch TV? Why do you always leave things half unsaid? Don’t you feel it can drive people crazy?

Just finish your sentences!

And stop smiling like that!

It’s so ambiguous and creepy!

Ling Yunfan, “Uh… What did we do on this sofa?”

As he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that because of how close Ji Canghai had leaned in, their posture had become inexplicably intimate and ambiguous.

Ji Canghai sat at the edge of the sofa, his hand propped up on the side of Ling Yunfan’s body, lightly encircling him, as he asked with a smile, “Don’t you have any memory of it?”

Ling Yunfan didn’t hesitate to reply, “None.”

What memory? It’s been more than three years since we last saw each other. How could we have picked out a sofa together? Why don’t you say we joined the Bronze Age fleet to fight against the alien in the Three body series? That would be more believable! ^[1]this is a reference to the Three-Body series, a popular series based on Three-body Problem science fiction book 

Ji Canghai leaned in closer, his voice full of laughter. “Then let’s recreate the scene, maybe that way you’ll remember.”